We got a mention in US News and World Report

US News and World Report Article

Please click on the link above to read the article.  While I am disappointed in the quote used (we spoke for an hour and I made many more salient points!) I believe the press coverage helps our cause.

More tomorrow.  Time to take a break.

We continue to make amazing progress on the issue of Alimony Reform in Oregon.  We are putting the final legal touches on our non-profit, at which time any of you are free to make donations.  Every little bit counts as we endeavor to spread the word and get Oregon citizens to write their legislators in support of reform.

Right now we are considering a billboard as well as an ad in the Oregonian.  Please write me at robindescamp@yahoo.com if you have any other ideas for how we can get the word out.  I have yet to figure out how to get all the names of alimony payers in this state aside from going to each courthouse and pouring through files.  Unfortunately, I don't have the time to do that.

Remember to sign our petition at Oregon Petition to Reform Alimony Laws and please pass this along to your friends and family as well.  We are up to almost 140 signatures in less than two full days but we need more - many more!

It is important to clarify: Oregon Alimony Reform is NOT trying to eliminate alimony.  We believe that in many cases, alimony is needed in order to help a recipient get back on their feet after a divorce and to give them time to find a career or re-enter whatever career they had before they stopped earning money.  However, we do not believe that alimony should last longer than half the length of the marriage, with a maximum of ten years in marriages longer than 20 years.  Ten years is long enough to get a degree if you don't have one and start fresh.

Perhaps most important: we believe a payer should be able to retire without having to engage in litigation.  As it stands currently, an alimony payer cannot effectively retire unless they are willing to play Russian Roulette with their future, in hopes a judge will eliminate their alimony (or even reduce it) when they retire.

That means if a payer wants to retire, not only do they get half of what they could have expected in retirement payments (because half went to recipient in the divorce), but they will likely have to go in the hole every month eating away at their savings to pay alimony, while the recipient now gets to triple-dip (alimony, retirement and social security).

Wake up!  Get involved!  Please.

Robin

Please click and sign today

http://signon.org/sign/alimony-reform-in-oregon?source=c.em.cp&r_by=6387969

CALL TO ACTION: PLEASE HELP TODAY!!!

I just found out that our alimony reform bill (nom HB 2559) is in the Speaker’s office for assignment to a committee. From there it should go to House Judiciary. If it does, then it is Rep. Barker, chair of House Judiciary, who makes the decision to hear the bill. If he gives the okay, the bill will be placed on the House Judiciary Committee agenda.

PLEASE email Representative Barker at: rep.jeffbarker@state.or.us or call him at 503-986-1428 to tell him you support reform in Oregon. I cannot stress enough how important this is. Even if you are in another state, the communication may prove helpful as it will educate Oregon legislators about the nationwide alimony reform movement.

This issue is so critical to our society and I urge you to please take a moment to send an email, even if all it says is "I think current alimony laws are unfair and should be modified to provide for predictable guidelines as well as time limits."

Please help. There are many payers out there who, after decades of working so hard to support their families, will never be able to retire. If we can't get alimony laws reformed in Oregon, the last day of the life of thousands of payers will almost certainly be spent working, instead of relaxing with friends and family and enjoying the fruits of their hard work. These folks have done their share and more and do not deserve to be enslaved until death. Hyperbole? Not if you are living it.